Leaders converge on Kazakhstan for security summit

Gathering regarded as a rival of NATO:

KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan on Tuesday prepared for a summit of a security group regarded as a rival of NATO that is to see rare encounters between the Chinese and Russian leaders with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad, attending the summit despite political problems at home, has already arrived in the Kazakh capital Astana along with Chinese President Hu Jintao who has been on an official visit to Kazakhstan, state media said.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was set up in 2001 as a security counterweight to NATO that would allow Russia and China to rival US influence in Asia. But increasingly, it is looking to cooperate at an economic level.

Its membership also includes ex-Soviet Central Asian states and with the likes of India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan attending meetings as observers, its summits bring together an eclectic gathering of world leaders.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is due Tuesday to meet guests including Ahmadinejad, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for bilateral talks, the presidency said.

The tenth anniversary summit then opens for a full day of business on Wednesday.

“The summit does not have a rigid agenda, the participants can discuss any current topics,” said Medvedev’s top foreign advisor Sergei Prikhodko, indicating that the situation in Afghanistan would loom large in the talks.

Much attention is likely to be focused on Ahmadinejad, making a rare appearance at a big international meeting despite problems at home over criticism of his inner-circle by hardline conservatives.

AFP